A Bugs Life Alternate Ending
by Lydea
Summary: An alternate ending where Atta and Flik get some bonding time. This was my first attempt at writing when I was very young, even though it didn't turn out bad, I probably won't finish it. My interests have changed.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The moment the bird had caught sight of Hopper; Flik closed his eyes and ran. His head continued to throb relentlessly from the beating he had received earlier from Hopper; he had to focus all of his strength on reaching the rock nearest to him. He immediately collapsed once reaching the rock, his back to the Bird's nest. He didn't have to turn around to know what had become of Hopper, since a terrible, agonizing scream soon filled the air. He shuddered. Slowly he opened his eyes and forced out a quick sigh of relief at the sight of the princess, who watched him from behind a larger rock. Flik wanted to close his eyes again, he was exhausted and his headache was so severe he couldn't see straight. But he knew that he couldn't stop now, at least not until the princess was safe. Now moving on willpower alone, he quickly reached the rock that Atta was behind. He crouched by her and forced his voice to be heard over the deafening sound of rain.

"Just follow me and stay low…once we're out of view…we can fly back"

Atta nodded. Flik rose and started moving away from the nest, beckoning her to do the same. She could see just how close Flik was to collapsing. His eyes were in a haze, and every step seemed to cause him pain. As if he heard her thoughts Flik swayed dangerously and Atta caught him just before he fell to the ground. Knowing he wouldn't make it much farther, she prepared to fly.

Realizing that Atta was about to take off now, within sight of the bird, Flik tried to stop her. But he had already screamed himself hoarse. The most he could do was to shake his head and mouth "not yet".

Receiving Flik's message, Atta managed to shout "Then what should we do?"

Seeing that Flik had no answer to this, she picked up the shivering ant and flew as fast as she could. She almost dropped Flik when she heard the terrifying screech behind them. The bird had spotted them.

Flik's fears had been confirmed; he glanced around and saw the bird chasing after them. The Princess attempted some maneuvers to try and lose the bird, but to no avail. The bird was too fast. As he watched the distance between them slowly close, he realized there was little left they could do.

As feet turned into inches between them and the bird, Atta began to panic, she started to fly blindly. There was no hope for either of them now. Her eyes had began to water when suddenly a large raindrop engulfed them both, sending the two ants crashing to the ground.

Atta was knocked unconscious. Flik grabbed her arm and some how managed to pull both of them out of the raindrop and into a nearby cave. The bird had lost sight of them when they fell to the ground and had abandoned pursuit. Flik dragged Atta to the driest end of the newly found cave and checked to make sure she was all right. After confirming that she was fine he finally allowed himself to collapse onto the floor, and immediately fell into a cold feverish sleep.

Atta awoke to an unfamiliar scene. She shot strait to an upright sitting position but didn't go any further due to a stab of pain in her side. She slowly leaned back against the wall of the cave and recollected her thoughts. It all came pouring back to her, Hopper, the bird, and…Flik! She looked around the cave and spotted him. He was lying on his side facing away from her shaking violently. She slowly crawled closer to him and saw the wretched state he was in. Then she remembered the raindrop and how it sent them flying towards the ground. He must have broken her fall, since she herself had no major injuries that she was aware of. Moving closer, she noticed in the dim morning light that he was quite pale and covered in bruises. As she came nearer to him her hand came in contact with warm sticky liquid, which on closer investigation was revealed to be fresh blood. Startled by the discovery she immediately looked at Flik and saw a large open wound on his side. She tried her hardest to stifle a gasp of astonishment, but Flik had already jolted awake at the sound.

The quick movement of sitting upright had caused Flik a great deal of pain. He had to screw up his face and clench his teeth to keep from screaming. In the end he let out an agonizing moan.

Seeing how much pain he was in, Atta grabbed Flik's shoulders and slowly lowered him until he was lying down again. The shock had made his laborious breathing quick and unsteady, but he had began to calm down once he opened his eyes and saw Atta sitting next to him.

When Flik saw Atta, and how she remained unhurt, a load of relief came to him. He closed his eyes and waited for his breathing to slow down. He was in a whole new world of pain. His left side hurt the most, and any movement caused him more pain. He was also thirsty, his throat felt like cotton. He wished that the princess was else ware, he didn't want anyone to see him like this, much less her.

Holding back tears, Atta started looking for any other major wounds. She had to compose herself, Flik was always strong for her, so she had to be strong for him.

"Flik, tell me where it hurts most."

He attempted to answer, but no words would come from his dry lips. Instead he started a dry coughing fit. Atta quickly went to the mouth of the cave. She saw what she was looking for, a large bead of dew. She grabbed it and hurriedly returned to Flik. He was still on his side coughing. She set down the drop of water next to him and waited until he was done. When he finally finished, she broke off a smaller bead and held it to his lips.

"Drink."

Flik obediently followed the quiet order and let the cool liquid soothe his dry mouth. As it seeped down his throat the painful dryness left him. He tried to talk again, and this time a hoarse sound, barely more then a whisper met his ears.

"Are you…okay?'

"Yes I'm fine…"

"Then fly back…to the colony."

"What? No! I won't leave you here."

"You…have to…"

"No Flik, I'm not going anywhere without you."

He knew arguing would have no effect, and the small conversation had already brought back the urge to cough. He turned away and tried to muffle another coughing fit.

When he turned away Atta noticed there was fresh blood on his side. She knew she had to stop the bleeding. She quickly flew to the mouth of the cave again and looked for anything she could use. The rain had stopped, which made looking easier. She saw a fallen dandelion stalk which she flew over to. She managed to pull off a few strips from the stalk and noticed a berry plant a little bit further down. It made her realize how hungry she was. So she wouldn't feel selfish she told herself that Flik was probably hungry too, and flew up to pick a few of the riper berries.

As Flik coughed the last of his fit he thought of the situation. He hated the idea of the Princess staying here any longer for him. But it was true that he couldn't fly back with her right now. Maybe he could convince her to leave, to go get help. No, she would probably think that going to get help for one ant would make her look like a screw up. He gave up on the idea and decided to let her do what she felt was right, after all she was the princess of the colony, the decision should be hers. He looked down at the wound on his side. It was still bleeding, if he continued to bleed like this he might just pass out. A sweep of cold came over him and he started to shake. He closed his eyes and waited for Atta to return.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After taking all she could she headed back to the cave, supplies in hand. Upon reaching the cave she flew over to the pale shivering ant. He was asleep again, this time she would be careful not to wake him. She set down the supplies next to Flik. She knelt by him and removed a strip of dandelion stalk from the little pile.

With concentration and slow calm movements she managed to wrap the wound without waking him. She moved back to examine her work. It seemed tight enough to stop the bleeding. Satisfied, she leaned against the wall and went to work on the berries she brought back. She thought about everything that had happened. Hopper, and how the colony would never have to harvest for the grasshoppers again. She also thought about the ant responsible for the end of the problem and let her eyes wander over Flik. She couldn't leave him here, he might freeze to death if someone didn't get back quick enough. But the stress of flying might do him serious harm. She came to the conclusion that she would wait here until he was able to leave with her. There was plenty of food around and they were far away enough from the bird, they would be fine for a little while. Any way she sort of owed him, she was the one who sent him on that suicide mission for warriors in the first place. So it was decided, she would wait for him to gather enough strength so they could fly back together. She had eaten enough of the berries and put the rest aside for Flik, who she noticed had started to shake again. Atta thought she should go out and find something that would keep him warm, so she left the cave once more.

Flik slowly came to consciousness. He wished his head would stop throbbing so he could think clearly. It was a bit warmer due to the day light that seeped into the cave. He was grateful for that. Strange that the Princess hadn't returned yet. Flik's mind began to wander. What if she had gotten lost, or got trapped in a hole, or the bird had found her and… Flik attempted to sit against the wall of the cave, and for some reason the wound in his side didn't stop him. It still hurt but it wasn't paralyzing him with pain any longer. Only then did Flik notice that the wound was wrapped cleanly. Sitting there, realizing what a fool he was he almost laughed. Atta had managed to come back and bandage him while he was asleep. Then he noticed a little pile of berries next to him. She's fine. Flik needed to stop underestimating the princess of the colony. His throat was quite dry so he helped himself to the dew drop from that morning. He closed his eyes again and tried to will his headache away.

Atta didn't know exactly what it was she was looking for. Any kind of large leaf could be used to keep warm during the cold nights of the rainy season. The reason she was still out was probably just the desire to get out of the cave. The sunlight felt good on her wings. She continued to look for, well, anything really just to stay out of the cave. As she flew on she noticed a strangely colored leaf. While flying closer to the leaf she realized it wasn't a leaf at all but a soft feather from a bird. It was surly large enough for Flik, in fact it was large enough for five or six ants. Despite the fact that it was six times her size Atta could carry the feather easily. She got a good grasp on the bulky load and made her way back to the cave.

Flik was still awake by the time Atta returned. She was quite pleased to see him up and conscious. He was still quite pale and had circles under his eyes but seemed to be much better off then the night before. He spoke in a hoarse but audible voice.

"Hello Princess, umm… Thanks, you know, for patching me up."

He gestured to the bandage around his chest. Atta smiled, glad to see Flik acting like himself again.

Atta dragged the feather into the cave, which wasn't quite as a great idea as she thought it would be. The feather was much too big and bulky to be of any use. She noticed blood rushing to her face when she realized the feather was practically useless. She felt like a complete moron dragging the huge thing in here.

Flik was feeling quite awkward. He sometimes got this way around the princess, just being around her like this with nothing to say, it was quite unnerving. He should say something.

"You should be getting back to the colony soon. They're probably wondering where you are."

"I don't think I'd be able to carry you all the way back without your wound opening up, we're going to stay here for a bit longer. So I umm, brought something we could use to stay warm…for the night."

She stopped struggling with the feather and saw what a fool she was being. Flik noticed her blushing. He could tell she felt silly for bringing it down here. He knew she only had good intentions and tried to think of ways to use the feather. He didn't want her feeling embarrassed.

"Well, I used feather strands once on one of my inventions. If you pluck a few off I can weave them together to make a blanket. Well, I actually used them as a net but if it was made of larger strands it could have been a blanket."

Atta quickly plucked a few of the feather strands and moved over towards Flik. She was very thankful he came up with a way to use the massive thing. It would also be nice to have something to do in this cave. As she moved closer to Flik she saw that his body was still heavily bruised. She handed him the strands and sat down next to him. His hands moved too fast for her to follow exactly what he was doing. A few seconds later he had weaved a much larger strand. Seeing how quickly he worked Atta went to pluck more of the feather strands. After plucking a much larger amount she went back to Flik who had already weaved all of his strands together. She put the large bundle next to him and watched as he picked one up and continued to weave. She marveled at how precise every detail was.

"You have fast hands, I mean, you work real quick and accurate."

"I like making things, the key to making a good blanket is to weave it tightly. It's just the same repetitive movement, but you have to keep the strands taut."

The princess got two strands and made an effort to copy him, but she couldn't get it tight enough to stay together. When Flik saw her trying, he put down his work and attempted to show her.

"Here, it's a little tricky to start."

Flik grabbed two more strands and showed her how to start more slowly. After a few minutes Atta was weaving on her own. It was nice to have something to do to pass the time. Flik occasionally fell into coughing fits, in which Atta would patiently wait by his side and offer water when he was done. They finished off the rest of the berries and after a few hours of weaving night fell. When the feather was finally picked clean, Flik had made a blanket large enough to cover three ants, Atta's could hardly cover herself. The rain had picked up again sending gusts of cold air through the mouth of the cave. Atta could see Flik was exhausted. He had grown much paler, and every movement seemed to require much effort. It was obvious he was in pain.

"Well, that was the last of the strands, and…there it's done."

His headache had worsened and every cough hurt his side severely, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. It was pouring outside, soon there was a flash of lightning and a earth shaking thunder after it. Atta gasped and clutched Flik's arm. She hated thunder, she closed her eyes and wished it to stop.

"It's okay, thunder can't hurt you."

Flik looked at the princess and was mad at the lightning for scaring her like this. She started to shake from either cold or fear, so he wrapped the newly made blanket around her. Thunder struck again and Atta crouched closer to Flik. He muttered quietly to her.

"I'm sure it'll be over soon."

Flik embraced the shivering Princess and closed his eyes. The two ants fell asleep crouched together in the cave, both wishing the thunder to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Atta awoke first to the loud rain outside. It had stopped thundering, but the rain was relentless. She carefully crawled out of Flik's embrace, and then turned to look at the ant. He was sitting upright but asleep. Some of the smaller cuts had started to heal, but he was still as pale as ever. She slowly lowered him until he was lying down and pulled the blanket back to check on his wound. The dandelion strip was stiff with dry blood. Calmly, she started to remove it. Underneath, all she could see was dry blood. She located the blanket she had made and ripped a piece off. She soaked it in the remains of the dew drop from yesterday and went to cleaning the wound. She had learned a bit about medical care from her mother who believed it was only proper for a queen ant to know how a wound should be treated. She never thought she'd have to use that knowledge. She was quite careful as to not irritate the wound. Once she had finished cleaning she found another strip of dandelion stalk and wrapped the cleaned wound. Done with her work she covered Flik up and wrapped herself in her own blanket. It had gotten quite cold in the cave. She needed to get back to the colony soon, they were probably wondering where she and Flik were. She looked at Flik who had started shaking again, Atta knelt over him and noticed he had broken into a cold sweat. She felt his forehead, he was burning with fever. His illness was worsening, she would have to leave with him soon if he were to ever heal. She looked outside at the rain, darkness was starting to retreat and morning was slowly getting its grip. Atta got up and moved closer to the mouth of the cave, the rain would have to stop before they went anywhere. She sat down and waited for the rain to stop.

He heard the soft voice of the princess calling his name and slowly opened his eyes. As the light poured in his eyes stung with pain and his head continued to throb. He felt exhausted, and everything seemed to be clouded. Flik couldn't see Atta clearly as she was kneeling directly over him. Even though she was speaking plainly he could barely make anything out. She was telling him they had to leave, while the rain had stopped. She said something else that he couldn't understand, and then asked if he was able to stand. Flik, slowly coming to his senses, tried to say something, but ended up nodding.

Atta carefully put Flik's arm over her shoulder and attempted to hoist him into a standing position. Halfway up Flik winced with pain, but determinedly kept going until he was standing leaning against Atta. She carefully shifted her weight so Flik was supporting himself. He was swaying but he managed to stay upright.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes…"

Flik answered in a hoarse whisper as he slowly opened his eyes. He had to concentrate on keeping the mass amounts of pain at bay so he could balance, if only he wasn't so tired. Slowly things came into focus, Atta was tying up the blankets and fastening them to her back. Flik finally realized that she was planning to leave now. He was happy they would at last return to the anthill. Atta belonged in her royal chambers, not in some damp cave tending to some mediocre ant, she should be helping to run the colony. Bright sunshine shined in from the mouth of the cave, perfect flying weather. Standing was taking a huge effort, and Flik decided he should conserve his energy for the flight home. He put a hand on the wall and used It for balance as he sat down. Touching the wall he noticed how very damp it was. The thought hit him like a brick wall. He looked around and realized with shock how dangerous the situation was. Flik knew what happened to structures once the soil in their walls became too moist, to his fear he saw large cracks forming in several locations. On closer inspection some of the cracks appeared to be growing, on instinct he yelled out.

"Atta, get out of the cave now!"

Atta, who had just completed her make shift backpack, jumped at the loudness of Flik's voice, but sensing the urgency immediately followed the orders. She reached the mouth of the cave quickly and only then did she start to wonder why it was necessary to leave the cave so suddenly. Safely outside she turned around to see what had caused Flik to panic, what she saw caused her to freeze to the spot in astonishment.

Knowing with certainty that he was in danger, Flik stood up as quickly as he could. But the moment he had gotten to his feet the walls began to tremble, small sections of the roof were falling off. Flik attempted to run to the exit but was struck by a wave of dizziness and a large rock. The combined effort of the two sent him to the ground, he had to muster all of his remaining energy just to keep awake. He felt new blood oozing from his shoulder due to the rock that had hit him, but the large rush of adrenalin kept the pain to a minimum. He began to crawl towards the entrance however to his utter despair everything went black. Not because of all the blood he had lost due to the opening of his wound, not because of the shower of rocks that had pelted him causing new bruises and gashes which bled, nor was the large rock that crushed his foot to blame for visibility becoming zero so quickly, the reason everything was dark was that the entrance to the cave had been blocked off completely by a pile a of rubble.

Watching the scene from outside Atta was in total shock. To her horror she saw Flik fall to the ground. She couldn't move to help him due to fear and the lasting effect of shock.She just gaped wide eyed and baffled as a mound of rock crashed down blocking the mouth of the cave. The sound brought her out of her befuddled state. Once the entrance had sealed, the cave seemed to settle, for the moment. She instinctively began clawing at the entrance but found that only the smaller stones would move for her, the majority of the rubble wouldn't budge. She felt a panic begin to rise in her.

"Flik…"

She whispered his name at first still trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Flik."

Her volume was rising as she began to grasp what horror had occurred.

"Flik!!"

Atta shouted his name, she desperately attempted at moving the rocks again as tears began to well up in her eyes. It was no use, why hadn't she helped him? Why did she just get out as quickly as possible without even thinking about him? She gave up on the rubble and started crying. She felt sick to her stomach as the guilt swept over her. It was impossible to think of how much she owed Flik, not just for saving the colony, but for everything. The one ant who risked his life for the well being of the entire colony, but also the only ant who actually listened to her, the ant who would never give up on her even after she had given up on herself, and now he was trapped, all because of her. The selfish princess who never thought once of repaying him. All she worried about was her well being, and in his most desperate hour, when he needed her most, she had left him to…to…

"Flik!? "

It wasn't that she had to repay him, not anymore. She just wanted to see him safe. She didn't care if that meant she had to look like a moron in front of the entire colony. As long as Flik was okay. She couldn't believe how long it had taken her to realize this.

"FLIK!! PLEASE ANSWER ME!!"

(Thanks soooo much to the few who have reviewed! The reviews were the reason I continued with this. Positive reviews are great and always welcome, but criticism is much needed due to the fact that this is my first time writing anything, I'm sure I have lots of room for improvement. So if you want me to keep adding chapters please review, I'll wait until I have at least six before I add the next one. Hope you enjoyed! Oh, and thanks racingwolf for those grammar tips! I think I fixed all of them. I'll be sure to review my chapters more thoroughly before posting them, but please continue posting any mistakes you find. -Leretta)


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